Affordable Mobiles - Phone insurance not set up

RocknRollStar

Good afternoon,

I just wonder if anyone on here can help me with an issue I have.

I had my 2 month old phone stolen in a club last weekend and as I was away from home with work I didn't have all my relevant paperwork for it with me. I logged it with the Police within 24 hours and called my service provider (3 mobile) to place a block on it and send me a replacement sim card.

I ordered this phone from affordablemobiles.co.uk and it came with some insurance with FoneSure that, if for some reason I didn't want it I had to cancel within 30 days. I never got around to cancelling it so it should have been set up. I wish I had got around to it and set up with 3 but it slipped my mind.

I went home over the weekend and found all the relevant paperwork, as i didn't even know the company they had set the insurance up with. I called them on Saturday morning and they don't even have lines open over the weekend - just Monday to Friday, 9 till 5.

I called FoneSure earlier today and told them I had my phone stolen and they had absolutely no record of me on the system. This shocked me a little as I have the paperwork along with a copy of the Direct Debit Guarantee Scheme (highlighting my bank details and for some reason stating that the 'First Debit will be taken on 24th January 2012 (which again is strange as I ordered and received the phone at the end of October).

I have tried to contact Affordable Mobiles but cannot even get them to pick up the phone (tried twice and it has called for 10 minutes both times with no answer).

Can I ask, are they liable for this? I have evidence they should have set it up so I was of the knowledge that I had insurance on the phone. It is not for me to ring up to make sure they have set this up correctly as the paperwork states I have it but doesn't give any membership number.

For me, affordable mobiles are at fault here and now I have had my phone stolen I am left with nothing and surely this is down to them?

I just want to make sure I have a point here as when I call them I just envisage that they are going to be very difficult about it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated as a replacement phone will cost me £380 (Samsung S2, they aren't cheap sadly) and I fell like thsi should be a cost that they incur rather than me.

Thanks in advance,

RocknRollStar

grumbler

RocknRollStar wrote: »

I had my 2 month old phone stolen in a club last weekend and as I was away from home with work I didn't have all my relevant paperwork for it with me. I logged it with the Police within 24 hours and called my service provider (3 mobile) to place a block on it and send me a replacement sim card.

I ordered this phone from affordablemobiles.co.uk and it came with some insurance with FoneSure that, if for some reason I didn't want it I had to cancel within 30 days.

I think it's 2 months free in fact.

I went home over the weekend and found all the relevant paperwork, as i didn't even know the company they had set the insurance up with. I called them on Saturday morning and they don't even have lines open over the weekend - just Monday to Friday, 9 till 5.

The T&C say that you must either call of fill in the online form[STRIKE] within 24 hours[/STRIKE].
Edit: in fact just report to the police and to the network.

Can I ask, are they liable for this?

[STRIKE]Ignoring that you have not informed them within 24 hours that is a very optimistic assumption[/STRIKE], I think you can ultimately hold affordablemobiles responsible if fonecare refuse to pay.

RocknRollStar

grumbler wrote: »

I think it's 2 months free in fact.The T&C say that you must either call of fill in the online form[STRIKE] within 24 hours[/STRIKE].
Edit: in fact just report to the police and to the network.

[STRIKE]Ignoring that you have not informed them within 24 hours that is a very optimistic assumption[/STRIKE], I think you can ultimately hold affordablemobiles responsible if fonecare refuse to pay.

Thanks for your response.

You are quoting the t+c's for FoneCare whoc seem to be their new insurance provider/partner. They were using FoneSure when I ordered my phone and that is in agreement with my paperwork so they muct have just switched over recently. This however, is not my fault and if they have forgetten to set it up for me or the paperwork was lost in the transfer then that is not my concern, it's theirs - correct?

Can I also just say, I know it says inform them within 48 hours, but how could I when they don't have lines open over the weekend (ignoring the fact I had no idea who my insurance as with at the time)?

I am not familiar with any legal action or what rights I have here but it seems that if a company states they have set up the insurance for you, and you find out later they haven't then they should be accountable. I just know they are going to fight this when i call them but I just wanted to get some informed opinions before I call as the insurance company has no record of my phone being registered, either by IMEI, Postcode, Name, anything!

grumbler

RocknRollStar wrote: »

...This however, is not my fault and if they have forgetten to set it up for me or the paperwork was lost in the transfer then that is not my concern, it's theirs - correct?

I think so.

Can I also just say, I know it says inform them within 48 hours, but how could I when they don't have lines open over the weekend

This is the weakest link. If I were you I would have recorded the message as the T&C say 48 hours.

(ignoring the fact I had no idea who my insurance as with at the time)?

This is an important fact to be ignored. It is your business to know, not theirs.

I am not familiar with any legal action or what rights I have here but it seems that if a company states they have set up the insurance for you, and you find out later they haven't then they should be accountable. I just know they are going to fight this when i call them but I just wanted to get some informed opinions before I call as the insurance company has no record of my phone being registered, either by IMEI, Postcode, Name, anything!

As I see this, assuming that you have a confirmation from affordablemobiles that they set up the insurance, if phonesure refuse to pay you send a Letter Before Action to affordablemobiles demanding either to pay you or to sort this out with the insurance company. If they fail to do this you take them to the Small Claims Court (online).

RocknRollStar

grumbler wrote: »

I think so.
This is the weakest link. If I were you I would have recorded the message as the T&C say 48 hours.This is an important fact to be ignored. It is your business to know, not theirs.

As I see this, assuming that you have a confirmation from affordablemobiles that they set up the insurance, if phonesure refuse to pay you send a Letter Before Action to affordablemobiles demanding either to pay you or to sort this out with the insurance company. If they fail to do this you take them to the Small Claims Court (online).

I don't understand what you mean by 'Recorded the message'. When I called the insurance I got an Out of Office voice telling me to call between office hours (Monday to Friday 9-5). There was no way of leaving any kind of message.

As for future dialogue with FoneSure, I can't see me having a leg to stand on with them as like I say, they had absolutely no record of me on their system. I feel my fight will now be with Affordable Mobiles but how long it will take for them to admit any fault is anybody's guess.

At least I know now what course of action to take and what letter to send them if they don't agree to take responsibilty by phone.

Many thanks to you for all your help, it is much apprecciated.

Merry Christmas,

RocknRollStar

grumbler

RocknRollStar wrote: »

I don't understand what you mean by 'Recorded the message'. When I called the insurance I got an Out of Office voice telling me to call between office hours (Monday to Friday 9-5). There was no way of leaving any kind of message.

I mean using a dictaphone (or your mobile phone as a dictaphone). As this message contradicts their T&C it is worth making a record and it's not too late yet.

I think you need to get some sort of confirmation from phonesure that they don't have any record of you.

RocknRollStar

grumbler wrote: »

I mean using a dictaphone (or your mobile phone as a dictaphone). As this message contradicts their T&C it is worth making a record and it's not too late yet.

I think you need to get some sort of confirmation from phonesure that they don't have any record of you.

Thanks for that, I will make a recording of it.

I have been calling them and calling them and getting absolutely no response, spent 78 minutes in total waiting for them to pick up! On an 0871 number that is more expense I don't need (they have no alternative on saynoto0870). I have had no other option than to send them an email regarding the issue, asking for them to contact me back by phone.


Can I just ask? I have been speaking to a colleague at work and he asked if I had purchased it on a credit card, which today I confirmed I had. Is there some kind of cover/insurance on there if the company in question have breached a contract?

He states that he had an issue with a company not providing the service he paid for and that after a word with Trading Standards they advised to claim through his credit card, which they then begrudgingly paid (only after he quoted the relevant legal document) and then they chased it up to reclaim their money.

I just haven't dealt with any of these issues before and any help would be greatly appreciated.

grumbler

RocknRollStar wrote: »

Can I just ask? I have been speaking to a colleague at work and he asked if I had purchased it on a credit card, which today I confirmed I had. Is there some kind of cover/insurance on there if the company in question have breached a contract?

He states that he had an issue with a company not providing the service he paid for and that after a word with Trading Standards they advised to claim through his credit card, which they then begrudgingly paid (only after he quoted the relevant legal document) and then they chased it up to reclaim their money.

If you pay by a credit card and don't receive the goods/services you paid for you can claim your money back from the credit card provider if the company you paid to refuses to return the money. I don't see how this can be relevant to your case.

Section 75 refunds Free protection for ALL spending

RocknRollStar

grumbler wrote: »

If you pay by a credit card and don't receive the goods/services you paid for you can claim your money back from the credit card provider if the company you paid to refuses to return the money. I don't see how this can be relevant to your case.

Section 75 refunds Free protection for ALL spending

Like I say i don't yet know what my stance can be on this as I have had no response from the company. A friend of my girlfriend graduated a year or two ago with a Law degree so I can ask him when I get the chance.

In response to your point, can it not be argued that I didn't receive the service I paid for?

I didn't just pay them £109.99 for a phone - I paid them for goods combined with a service, the contract being set up is part of that service - the phone on it's own would have been £385.00 sim-free. This happened to include an insurance policy which they mistakenly didn't set up.

grumbler

No, you have not paid anything for the insurance as it was added for free for the first N months.
If you paid, IMO it would be reasonable to expect getting a refund from the CC company, not the insurance cover.
Also, only goods/services costing £100+ are covered.

RocknRollStar

grumbler wrote: »

No, you have not paid anything for the insurance as it was added for free for the first N months.
If you paid, IMO it would be reasonable to expect getting a refund from the CC company, not the insurance cover.
Also, only goods/services costing £100+ are covered.

Regardless of whether I 'paid' or not, I agreed to pay them - to start whenever their 'free' insurance expired. The fact I didn't pay the £5.99 for the insurance straight away is not relevant as there was no possible option to, I have the direct debit agreement that payments will start to come out from 24th January (which would make it 3 months). Surely that is enough?!

Ordinarily if they have agreed to set this up, regardless of whether they are offering it 'free' or not, it should be on record with the company they have stated.

They clearly haven't given me any kind of 'Free Phone insurance for 2/3 months', if they have then who is it with? Certainly not FoneSure as they don't have me on their system. Is that not a breach of the contract agreed with Affordable Mobiles?

Goods/services costing £100+ are covered, so the £109.99 that I just stated I paid is above the minimum amount you have just quoted.

It would be good to have anyone else's input on this too if possible.

Thanks again Grumbler for your replies.